As part of Special Collections’ 30th Anniversary celebration we are having an all day genealogy and local history extravaganza this Saturday Oct 20. Those of you interested in genealogy will want to make sure you come hear about the amazing resources available just a short distance away at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. George Findlen, a long-time genealogist and volunteer at the SHSW will present a program about researching at the SHSW. The second program Mr. Findlen will present will be on the Draper Manuscripts – a vast collection of primary source genealogical research materials held by the State Historical Society. If you attended the Quad Cities Genealogy Conference in April of 2012 you heard just a small preview of what is available in the Draper Manuscripts – now you can hear the rest of the story!

The programs are free and open to the public with no registration required. Doors open at 9:30AM with the first presentation beginning at 9:50AM. Stay for awhile or for the entire day. Afternoon programs will including screening of historic local film footage, a program on Davenport and Iowa Civil War Camps and the first public showing of a recently restored rare 1857 map of Davenport.